Writing as fast as I can here ? I promise there will be Better Events .. soon.
Enjoy!
M.
Chapter Twenty-nine
"You are finally awoken," a voice told her as she opened her eyes. She tried to focus, but the light made it extremely hard. She knew that voice, but she couldn't place it, and she considered it maybe was her mind doing weird stuff again. "Your injuries were infected, Colonel Carter."
She tried to remain awake after hearing the voice calling her name, the name she didn't hear in a while. She figured she had died after all.
The darkness was still surrounding her, but there were noises, too many noises. It was like the static of the radio when you lose the connection. Then she thought it was more like chatter, a low whispered conversation she couldn't quite discern. She knew the voices, moving her head towards a side she spotted two figures, a dark one covered with a long gray tunic and a clearer one in some sort of earthy brown.
"Nay…" she attempted to ask, but her tongue felt thick and her throat hoarse.
"The girl is okay, Sam. And you are improving; you scared the hell out of us." The clear one said, and she knew that voice. She just couldn't place it.
Next time she managed to open her eyes, she felt stronger and not quite like the floating being she felt the few times she woke up before. Someone left the room running somewhere she couldn't quite place, and then, she heard people coming. She wondered what the hell was going on, and how could people be running on the tel'tak when it supposedly was empty.
"Sam!" A voice called her over, and she opened her eyes slowly. His smile was the first thing she recognized even if the worried frown also called her attention. He turned around, mostly to get a grip on himself with the excuse of finding water to give her.
"Daniel?" She tried, her voice barely a whisper. She observed him and despite the lights not being enough she could make out the wet traces on his face. She raised an eyebrow, and he blushed.
"You are alive, Sam…" he explained and chuckled. "I can't believe you are alive. Teal'c called me when he recognized you, and we brought a doctor from beta. The Doc said that a day later and you probably wouldn't make it." He explained knowing by experience that explanations were usually the thing one wanted to hear.
"I… Naysa?" she asked looking around and finding her girl missing.
"Who? Ah, The girl… she's alright. The Doctor checked her, apart from being slightly underfed and a bit dehydrated, she's in perfect health. Teal'c found her a family who could take care of her until you woke up and avoid us to worry about her situation. They are taking good care of her while we take care of you," he grinned and took a sip of the water.
"Jack?" She asked after wetting her lips. Daniel didn't quite know what to answer; Jack wasn't in the best emotional state the last time he saw him. He thought he would've barged at any moment after they informed the SGC, however that was yet to happen, and he was feeling a bit disappointed on his friend.
"I… We reported the proper channels, Sam," he explained being as cryptic as possible. She frowned, "He is okay. However, you are in quarantine; you can't be moved out of here until the time comes and I didn't want to leave you until you woke up," she frowned. "Your condition was extreme; the Doctor didn't think you would make it. You know him; you know Jack. He's probably doing everything in his power to be here. However, you also know the DC's bureaucracy, and you know they will be pulling all the strings to keep him there." She hummed, then she looked around, not recognizing the place.
"Where …"
"Sakkara, you managed to get yourself to Sakkara."
"And you?"
"I wasn't here. The Jaffa tended your wounds first and assured to Teal'c that you were on your lasts days due to a blast injury. Teal'c called me over, mentioned the injuries and…" he stopped, recalling the moment he thought his friend could die for real within days of finally being found. He shuddered, "I managed to bring the Doc here, with a prepared for the worst kit. As soon as we got here he placed an IV with some antibiotics; he was concerned about that procedure because you were too dehydrated."
"How long?"
"Well, you were out for five Sakkara days without waking up, and four more after until today. I should let you sleep some more. The more rest you get, the quicker you will be back on your feet." He told her, the truth was that even if he had spent a good amount of time looking at her, seeing her alive was overwhelming and seeing her almost bone and flesh was terribly painful. He knew Jack would be very angry with her current situation because there was nothing he could do to avoid it.
She reached for his hand to stop him, and he flinched at her touch. She looked at her skinny arm and sighed. She knew she had lost a lot of weight, and even if she had managed to keep her firm tone by training and walking, the food was barely enough to cut it back at Semayati. Her already low-fat body was suffering the consequences of the days she spent not taking care of herself properly.
"I know," she sighed, frustrated and embarrassed. "At least I will get time to gain some weight before returning home, right?" She added with a smile.
"Sam, I."
"Don't try, Daniel. I know." She stopped to catch a breath. "How? How did I get here?"
"I shouldn't… you should rest."
"Daniel… please." He sighed and plopped himself back on the chair beside her bed.
"I only know what they told me, Sam." She raised her eyebrow, "They got an alert for a tel'tak approaching Sakkara, and they didn't have anyone out there. You never answered the recon call, we know now you were unconscious. But then, they were worried since they had received a warning message about the strange movement from Jaffa's of one small God. Supposedly, they were heading here to destroy whatever they could. You didn't answer, they gave you a warning shot, but your vessel didn't stop but didn't fire back. As that made no sense to them, they transported themselves to the ship, and they found you sprawled on the floor, barely alive. They took you as a prisoner, that's why you are hidden here. When Teal'c recognized you, and we arrived, the Doctor recommendation was to leave you here and avoid moving you."
"And Naysa?" She asked biting her lower lip and was thankful her daughter wasn't old enough to remember what she had seen.
"They didn't saw her until the ship landed and there was a cleaning crew. She was hiding behind some boxes. Who is she, Sam?" Her eyes widened.
"You don't know?" She asked, "but I…"
"Who is she, Sam?" he tried again.
"My daughter… I don't.." she frowned.
"You don't what, Sam?" he kept trying to make her talk. She seemed distraught, and that made him think the worse, "Did someone rape you?" He asked in a reassuring whisper if he saw Jack he had to know.
"No!"
"Okay," he frowned, he could see she was trying to understand something, years of being by her side while she calculated things had served him to know her. "Talk to me," she squinted.
"I was pregnant before," she inhaled and took another sip of her water. "I asked to be reassigned to Earth because of that."
"You did? Then, why weren't you sent home?" He frowned, "It doesn't make any sense, no with the 'no kids abroad' rule in place."
"They denied my request, and then… the mission… and she grew and …" she started to get overflowed by memories.
"Sam, calm down. This is not doing any good to you. Whatever the hell happened, we will figure it out. I don't get why they wouldn't reassign you. Unless…"
"Unless what?"
"There was an issue around when you left; I learned that through one of the scientists who was in the wrong place, or rather in the right place. She overheard the SGC commander, General Price; he wasn't happy with you being sent as Atlantis CO. He mentioned you gaining your position by…" he blushed. She left out an 'oh.' "Yeah, and Doctor Ellis, she was very upset, she mentioned working with you, and that you deserve the position more than any other guy around. Anyhow, he also said not liking Jack using rather colorful words she didn't dare to repeat."
"You think?"
"I don't know what to think, Sam. But we need to figure this one out before sending you home. Here you are safe. However, you know the rules."
"I need quarantine at the SGC."
"Yes, and General Price is still in command there."
"So, I'll better improve my game before I end up in their infirmary, right?"
"Right, if you promise you will take care of yourself. I will return to Earth and try to see what I can learn. But the chances are that they will deny my return, I might have to trust in someone else to pass the information along."
"I guess you will have to find someone to trust."
"Oh, I have someone in mind," Sam frowned, "Mitchell is in charge of beta at the moment, I left him with Vala. You know he will cooperate just to get rid of her," he grinned.
"Very well then, Daniel. I wish there were something I could do to fix this."
"There is something…"
"What?"
"Eat, exercise, heal… get out of here as soon as you can."
"I will, Daniel. Thank you."
